Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB168 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 168
55 To improve the ability of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary
66 of the Interior to carry out forest management activities that reduce
77 the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and for other purposes.
88 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
99 JANUARY3, 2025
1010 Mr. L
1111 AMALFAintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
1212 mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Re-
1313 sources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
1414 each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
1515 tion of the committee concerned
1616 A BILL
1717 To improve the ability of the Secretary of Agriculture and
1818 the Secretary of the Interior to carry out forest manage-
1919 ment activities that reduce the risk of catastrophic
2020 wildfires, and for other purposes.
2121 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2222 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2323 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2424 (a) S
2525 HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
2626 ‘‘Targeted Operations to Remove Catastrophic Hazards 5
2727 Act’’ or the ‘‘TORCH Act’’. 6
2828 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
2929 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
3030 •HR 168 IH
3131 (b) TABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
3232 this Act is as follows: 2
3333 Sec. 1. Short title.
3434 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION ACTIVITIES
3535 Sec. 101. Categorical exclusion for high priority hazard tree activities.
3636 Sec. 102. Utilizing timber sales on National Forest System land for extreme
3737 risk reduction.
3838 Sec. 103. Utilizing grazing for wildfire risk reduction.
3939 Sec. 104. Amendments to the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 to im-
4040 prove wildfire mitigation.
4141 Sec. 105. Amendment to fuel breaks in forests and other wildland vegetation.
4242 TITLE II—GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY
4343 Sec. 201. Modification of the treatment of certain revenue and payments under
4444 good neighbor agreements.
4545 TITLE III—ELECTRICAL UTILITY LINES RIGHTS-OF-WAYS AND
4646 RELATED VEGETATION MANAGEMENT
4747 Sec. 301. Vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and main-
4848 tenance relating to electric transmission and distribution facil-
4949 ity rights-of-way.
5050 Sec. 302. Categorical exclusion for electric utility lines rights-of-way.
5151 Sec. 303. Permits and agreements with electrical utilities.
5252 TITLE IV—REFORM OF CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE
5353 REQUIREMENTS
5454 Sec. 401. Nonapplicability of certain additional consultation requirements of
5555 the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
5656 Sec. 402. Amendment to categorical exclusion for collaborative restoration
5757 projects.
5858 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUEL 3
5959 REDUCTION ACTIVITIES 4
6060 SEC. 101. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR HIGH PRIORITY 5
6161 HAZARD TREE ACTIVITIES. 6
6262 (a) C
6363 ATEGORICALEXCLUSION.— 7
6464 (1) I
6565 N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 8
6666 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 9
6767 of Agriculture shall develop a categorical exclusion 10
6868 (as defined in section 1508.4 of title 40, Code of 11
6969 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
7070 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
7171 •HR 168 IH
7272 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) for 1
7373 high priority hazard tree activities. 2
7474 (2) A
7575 DMINISTRATION.—In developing and ad-3
7676 ministering the categorical exclusion under para-4
7777 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 5
7878 (A) comply with the National Environ-6
7979 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 7
8080 seq.); and 8
8181 (B) apply the extraordinary circumstances 9
8282 procedures under section 220.6 of title 36, Code 10
8383 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-11
8484 tions), in determining whether to use the cat-12
8585 egorical exclusion. 13
8686 (b) P
8787 ROJECTSIZELIMITATIONS.—A project to carry 14
8888 out high priority hazard tree activities to which a categor-15
8989 ical exclusion under subsection (a) is applied may not ex-16
9090 ceed 3,000 acres. 17
9191 (c) D
9292 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 18
9393 (1) H
9494 IGH-PRIORITY HAZARD TREE .—The term 19
9595 ‘‘high-priority hazard tree’’ means a standing tree 20
9696 that— 21
9797 (A) presents a visible hazard to people or 22
9898 Federal property due to conditions such as de-23
9999 terioration of or damage to the root system, 24
100100 trunk, stem, or limbs of the tree, or the direc-25
101101 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
102102 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
103103 •HR 168 IH
104104 tion or lean of the tree, as determined by the 1
105105 Secretary; 2
106106 (B) is determined by the Secretary to be 3
107107 highly likely to fail and, if it failed, would be 4
108108 highly likely to cause injury to people or dam-5
109109 age to Federal property; and 6
110110 (C) is within 300 feet of a National Forest 7
111111 System road with a maintenance level of 3, 4, 8
112112 or 5, a National Forest System trail, or a devel-9
113113 oped recreation site on National Forest System 10
114114 lands that is operated and maintained by the 11
115115 Secretary. 12
116116 (2) H
117117 IGH-PRIORITY HAZARD TREE ACTIVI -13
118118 TIES.—The term ‘‘high priority hazard tree activi-14
119119 ties’’— 15
120120 (A) means forest management activities 16
121121 that mitigate the risks associated with high-pri-17
122122 ority hazard trees, including pruning, felling, 18
123123 and disposal of those trees; and 19
124124 (B) does not include any activity— 20
125125 (i) conducted in a wilderness area or 21
126126 wilderness study area; 22
127127 (ii) for the construction of a perma-23
128128 nent road or permanent trail; 24
129129 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
130130 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
131131 •HR 168 IH
132132 (iii) conducted on Federal land on 1
133133 which, by Act of Congress or Presidential 2
134134 proclamation, the removal of vegetation is 3
135135 restricted or prohibited; 4
136136 (iv) that would be inconsistent with 5
137137 the applicable land and resource manage-6
138138 ment plan; or 7
139139 (v) conducted in an inventoried 8
140140 roadless area. 9
141141 SEC. 102. UTILIZING TIMBER SALES ON NATIONAL FOREST 10
142142 SYSTEM LAND FOR EXTREME RISK REDUC-11
143143 TION. 12
144144 Section 14 of the National Forest Management Act 13
145145 of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) is amended— 14
146146 (1) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and 15
147147 inserting ‘‘$50,000’’; and 16
148148 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub-17
149149 section: 18
150150 ‘‘(j) In the event of extreme risks to a unit of Na-19
151151 tional Forest System land, including catastrophic wildfire, 20
152152 insect and disease outbreak, wind, hurricane, flood, 21
153153 drought, or to avoid impacts from such extreme events, 22
154154 the Secretary may, without an appraisal and under such 23
155155 rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary, dispose 24
156156 of by sale or otherwise, portions of trees, or forest prod-25
157157 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
158158 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
159159 •HR 168 IH
160160 ucts located on such unit of National Forest System 1
161161 lands.’’. 2
162162 SEC. 103. UTILIZING GRAZING FOR WILDFIRE RISK REDUC-3
163163 TION. 4
164164 The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 5
165165 Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, in coordination with 6
166166 holders of permits to graze livestock on Federal land, shall 7
167167 develop a strategy to increase opportunities to utilize live-8
168168 stock grazing as wildfire risk reduction strategy, includ-9
169169 ing— 10
170170 (1) completion of reviews (as required under the 11
171171 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (U.S.C. 12
172172 4321 et seq.)) to allow permitted grazing on vacant 13
173173 grazing allotments during instances of drought, wild-14
174174 fire or other natural disasters that disrupt grazing 15
175175 on allotments already permitted; 16
176176 (2) use of targeted grazing; 17
177177 (3) increase use of temporary permits to pro-18
178178 mote targeted fuels reduction and reduction of 19
179179 invasive annual grasses; 20
180180 (4) increased use of grazing as a postfire recov-21
181181 ery and restoration strategy, where appropriate; and 22
182182 (5) use all applicable authorities under the law. 23
183183 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
184184 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
185185 •HR 168 IH
186186 SEC. 104. AMENDMENTS TO THE HEALTHY FOREST RES-1
187187 TORATION ACT OF 2003 TO IMPROVE WILD-2
188188 FIRE MITIGATION. 3
189189 (a) P
190190 ROMOTINGCROSS-BOUNDARYWILDFIREMITI-4
191191 GATION.—Section 103(e)(5) of the Healthy Forests Res-5
192192 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6513(e)(5)) is amended 6
193193 by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 7
194194 (b) W
195195 ILDFIRERESILIENCEPROJECTSIZE.—Section 8
196196 605(c)(1) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 9
197197 (16 U.S.C. 6591d(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘3000 10
198198 acres’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000 acres’’. 11
199199 SEC. 105. AMENDMENT TO FUEL BREAKS IN FORESTS AND 12
200200 OTHER WILDLAND VEGETATION. 13
201201 Section 40806(d)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment 14
202202 and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592b(d)(1)) is amended by 15
203203 striking ‘‘3,000 acres’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000 acres’’. 16
204204 TITLE II—GOOD NEIGHBOR 17
205205 AUTHORITY 18
206206 SEC. 201. MODIFICATION OF THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN 19
207207 REVENUE AND PAYMENTS UNDER GOOD 20
208208 NEIGHBOR AGREEMENTS. 21
209209 (a) G
210210 OODNEIGHBORAUTHORITY.—Section 8206 of 22
211211 the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a) is amend-23
212212 ed— 24
213213 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘or Indian 25
214214 tribe’’; and 26
215215 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
216216 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
217217 •HR 168 IH
218218 (2) in subsection (b)— 1
219219 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, 2
220220 Indian tribe,’’ after ‘‘Governor’’; 3
221221 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking clause 4
222222 (i) and inserting the following: 5
223223 ‘‘(i) I
224224 N GENERAL.—Funds received 6
225225 from the sale of timber by a Governor, an 7
226226 Indian tribe, or a county under a good 8
227227 neighbor agreement shall be retained and 9
228228 used by the Governor, Indian tribe, or 10
229229 county, as applicable— 11
230230 ‘‘(I) to carry out authorized res-12
231231 toration services under the good 13
232232 neighbor agreement; and 14
233233 ‘‘(II) if there are funds remain-15
234234 ing after carrying out subclause (I), 16
235235 to carry out authorized restoration 17
236236 services under other good neighbor 18
237237 agreements.’’; and 19
238238 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, In-20
239239 dian tribe,’’ after ‘‘Governor’’; and 21
240240 (D) by striking paragraph (4). 22
241241 (b) C
242242 ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 8206(a) 23
243243 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)) is 24
244244 amended— 25
245245 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
246246 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
247247 •HR 168 IH
248248 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, Indian 1
249249 tribe,’’ after ‘‘Governor’’; and 2
250250 (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, Indian 3
251251 tribe,’’ after ‘‘Governor’’. 4
252252 (c) E
253253 FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 5
254254 this Act apply to any project initiated pursuant to a good 6
255255 neighbor agreement (as defined in section 8206(a) of the 7
256256 Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)))— 8
257257 (1) before the date of enactment of this Act, if 9
258258 the project was initiated after the date of enactment 10
259259 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public 11
260260 Law 115–334; 132 Stat. 4490); or 12
261261 (2) on or after the date of enactment of this 13
262262 Act. 14
263263 TITLE III—ELECTRICAL UTILITY 15
264264 LINES RIGHTS-OF-WAYS AND 16
265265 RELATED VEGETATION MAN-17
266266 AGEMENT 18
267267 SEC. 301. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC-19
268268 TION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 20
269269 RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND 21
270270 DISTRIBUTION FACILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 22
271271 (a) H
272272 AZARDTREESWITHIN50 FEET OFELECTRIC 23
273273 P
274274 OWERLINE.—Section 512(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Federal 24
275275 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 25
276276 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
277277 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
278278 •HR 168 IH
279279 1772(a)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘10’’ and in-1
280280 serting ‘‘50’’. 2
281281 (b) C
282282 ONSULTATIONWITHPRIVATELANDOWNERS.— 3
283283 Section 512(c)(3)(E) of the Federal Land Policy and 4
284284 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772(c)(3)(E)) is 5
285285 amended— 6
286286 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7
287287 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period and in-8
288288 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 9
289289 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10
290290 ‘‘(iii) consulting with private land-11
291291 owners with respect to any hazard trees 12
292292 identified for removal from land owned by 13
293293 such private landowners.’’. 14
294294 (c) R
295295 EVIEW ANDAPPROVALPROCESS.—Clause (iv) 15
296296 of section 512(c)(4)(A) of the Federal Land Policy and 16
297297 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772(c)(4)(A)) is 17
298298 amended to read as follows: 18
299299 ‘‘(iv) ensures that— 19
300300 ‘‘(I) a plan submitted without a 20
301301 modification under clause (iii) shall be 21
302302 automatically approved 60 days after 22
303303 review; and 23
304304 ‘‘(II) a plan submitted with a 24
305305 modification under clause (iii) shall be 25
306306 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
307307 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11
308308 •HR 168 IH
309309 automatically approved 67 days after 1
310310 review.’’. 2
311311 SEC. 302. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR ELECTRIC UTIL-3
312312 ITY LINES RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 4
313313 (a) C
314314 ATEGORICALEXCLUSIONESTABLISHED.—For-5
315315 est management activities described in subsection (c) are 6
316316 a category of activities designated as being categorically 7
317317 excluded from the preparation of an environmental assess-8
318318 ment or an environmental impact statement under section 9
319319 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 10
320320 U.S.C. 4332). 11
321321 (b) F
322322 ORESTMANAGEMENTACTIVITIESDESIGNATED 12
323323 FORCATEGORICALEXCLUSION.—The forest management 13
324324 activities designated as being categorically excluded under 14
325325 subsection (b) are— 15
326326 (1) the development and approval of a vegeta-16
327327 tion management, facility inspection, and operation 17
328328 and maintenance plan submitted under section 18
329329 512(c)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-19
330330 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772(c)(1)) by the 20
331331 Secretary concerned; and 21
332332 (2) the implementation of routine activities con-22
333333 ducted under the plan referred to in paragraph (1). 23
334334 (c) A
335335 VAILABILITY OFCATEGORICALEXCLUSION.— 24
336336 On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 25
337337 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
338338 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12
339339 •HR 168 IH
340340 Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion es-1
341341 tablished under subsection (b) in accordance with this sec-2
342342 tion. 3
343343 (d) E
344344 XTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—Use of the 4
345345 categorical exclusion established under subsection (b) shall 5
346346 not be subject to the extraordinary circumstances proce-6
347347 dures in section 220.6, title 36, Code of Federal Regula-7
348348 tions, or section 1508.4, title 40, Code of Federal Regula-8
349349 tions. 9
350350 (e) E
351351 XCLUSION OFCERTAINAREAS.—The categor-10
352352 ical exclusion established under subsection (b) shall not 11
353353 apply to any forest management activity conducted— 12
354354 (1) in a component of the National Wilderness 13
355355 Preservation System; or 14
356356 (2) on National Forest System lands on which, 15
357357 by Act of Congress, the removal of vegetation is re-16
358358 stricted or prohibited. 17
359359 (f) P
360360 ERMANENTROADS.— 18
361361 (1) P
362362 ROHIBITION ON ESTABLISHMENT .—A for-19
363363 est management activity designated under subsection 20
364364 (c) shall not include the establishment of a perma-21
365365 nent road. 22
366366 (2) E
367367 XISTING ROADS.—The Secretary con-23
368368 cerned may carry out necessary maintenance and re-24
369369 pair on an existing permanent road for the purposes 25
370370 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
371371 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13
372372 •HR 168 IH
373373 of conducting a forest management activity des-1
374374 ignated under subsection (c). 2
375375 (3) T
376376 EMPORARY ROADS .—The Secretary con-3
377377 cerned shall decommission any temporary road con-4
378378 structed for a forest management activity designated 5
379379 under subsection (c) not later than 3 years after the 6
380380 date on which the action is completed. 7
381381 (g) A
382382 PPLICABLELAWS.—A forest management activ-8
383383 ity designated under subsection (c) shall not be subject 9
384384 to section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 10
385385 U.S.C. 1536), section 106 of the National Historic Preser-11
386386 vation Act, or any other applicable law. 12
387387 (h) S
388388 ECRETARYCONCERNEDDEFINED.—In this sec-13
389389 tion, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 14
390390 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 15
391391 National Forest System lands; and 16
392392 (2) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect 17
393393 to public lands. 18
394394 SEC. 303. PERMITS AND AGREEMENTS WITH ELECTRICAL 19
395395 UTILITIES. 20
396396 (a) I
397397 NGENERAL.—In any special use permit or ease-21
398398 ment on National Forest System lands provided to an elec-22
399399 tric utility company (as defined in section 1262 of the En-23
400400 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16451)) the Secretary 24
401401 of Agriculture may provide permission to cut and remove 25
402402 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
403403 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 14
404404 •HR 168 IH
405405 trees or other vegetation from within the vicinity of dis-1
406406 tribution lines or transmission lines, including hazardous 2
407407 vegetation that increases fire risk, without requiring a sep-3
408408 arate timber sale if that cutting and removal is consistent 4
409409 with the applicable land management plan. 5
410410 (b) U
411411 SE OFPROCEEDS.—A special use permit or 6
412412 easement that includes permission for the cutting and re-7
413413 moval of trees or other vegetation described in subsection 8
414414 (a), shall include a requirement that, if the applicable elec-9
415415 trical utility sells any portion of the material removed 10
416416 under the permit or easement, the electrical utility shall 11
417417 provide to the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the 12
418418 Forest Service, any proceeds received from the sale, less 13
419419 any transportation costs incurred in the sale. 14
420420 (c) R
421421 ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-15
422422 tion shall be construed to require the sale of any material 16
423423 removed under a special use permit or easement that in-17
424424 cludes permission for the cutting and removal of trees or 18
425425 other vegetation described in subsection (a). 19
426426 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
427427 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 15
428428 •HR 168 IH
429429 TITLE IV—REFORM OF CERTAIN 1
430430 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIRE-2
431431 MENTS 3
432432 SEC. 401. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN ADDITIONAL 4
433433 CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE EN-5
434434 DANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 6
435435 (a) F
436436 ORESTSERVICEPLANS.—Section 6(d)(2) of the 7
437437 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 8
438438 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(d)(2)) is amended to read as 9
439439 follows: 10
440440 ‘‘(2) N
441441 O ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION RE -11
442442 QUIRED UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES .—Not-12
443443 withstanding any other provision of law, the Sec-13
444444 retary shall not be required to reinitiate consultation 14
445445 under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act 15
446446 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) or section 402.16 of 16
447447 title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 17
448448 regulation), on a land management plan approved, 18
449449 amended, or revised under this section when— 19
450450 ‘‘(A) a new species is listed or critical habi-20
451451 tat is designated under the Endangered Species 21
452452 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 22
453453 ‘‘(B) new information reveals effects of the 23
454454 land management plan that may affect a spe-24
455455 cies listed or critical habitat designated under 25
456456 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
457457 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 16
458458 •HR 168 IH
459459 that Act in a manner or to an extent not pre-1
460460 viously considered.’’. 2
461461 (b) B
462462 UREAU OFLANDMANAGEMENTPLANS.—Sec-3
463463 tion 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 4
464464 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended by adding at the 5
465465 end the following: 6
466466 ‘‘(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 7
467467 Secretary shall not be required to reinitiate consultation 8
468468 under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 9
469469 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) or section 402.16 of title 50, 10
470470 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), 11
471471 on a land use plan approved, amended, or revised under 12
472472 this section when— 13
473473 ‘‘(1) a new species is listed or critical habitat 14
474474 is designated under the Endangered Species Act of 15
475475 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 16
476476 ‘‘(2) new information reveals effects of the land 17
477477 use plan that may affect a species listed or critical 18
478478 habitat designated under that Act in a manner or to 19
479479 an extent not previously considered.’’. 20
480480 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
481481 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 17
482482 •HR 168 IH
483483 SEC. 402. AMENDMENT TO CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR 1
484484 COLLABORATIVE RESTORATION PROJECTS. 2
485485 Section 603(c)(1) of the Healthy Forests Restoration 3
486486 Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(c)(1)) is amended by strik-4
487487 ing ‘‘3000 acres’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000 acres’’. 5
488488 Æ
489489 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Mar 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H168.IH H168
490490 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS